What price chivalry?
by Aoi Akiko
Summary: The mask behind the most beautiful man alive... alone... avowing atonement... [pictures in chapter 2]
1. What Price Chivalry?

No. _Escaflowne _not mine. Allen Schezar not mine.

~*~*~*~ 

Moonlight lure the shadows to dance, past the eerie halls and away from this forgotten place…

He stares at the amber tatters unearthed from the underbelly of his old bed once slept upon whence he was just an apprentice. Stares past the yellowed edges and stains of _vino_ long since consumed, its bottles broken, its casket musty with mould. Stares at the small black lines running across its mildewed surface, ink faded into the fibers of this aged manuscript…

_Ye nine points of Knightly Virtue…  
Unselfishness… Courtesy… Liberality… Good faith… Bravery… Glory… Honor… Loyalty… Pride…_

And he has kept them all. Kept them to the best of his abilities, all these years gone past, triumphs and trials come and gone…

He reads on…

_Ye olde Knightly Rules of Chivalry  
Thou shalt defend thy church, for thou believeth in thy teachers and all its directions…_

Jeture delivers when all had abandoned…

_Thou shalt defend thy King and Queen and country against all whom oppose it unto thy death…_

And this Land is his Home, giveth glory to his name…

_Thou shalt defend those who are weak, poor or innocent, always tender-hearted and giveth largesse to everyone…_

Who else would protect those in need, if not he and his brothers, as a knight – no, as a man…?

_Thou shalt always fight honorably, never brandishing thy weapon in anger nor for evil purposes…_

And yes, for all the times he draws his sword, he shall be reminded of this, for it was engraved into his heart, an invisible tattoo upon his very flesh…_  
Thou shalt remain faithful to thy pledged word…_

He hesitates, for he knows that of all the vows fulfilled, this is one he has broken…

Dread fills his heart…

He reads on…

_Including those in the Rules of Chivalrous Love…  
Thou shalt be in all things polite and courteous…_

Once a gentleman, always a gentlemen – in love and war and peace…

_Thou shalt keep thyself chaste for the sake of her whom thou loveth…  
_He reasons this true, for love was a forbidden wine never tasted… 

_Be obedient to the commands of a lady, for thou shalt ever strive to ally thyself to the service of Love…_

… and of this he cannot be prouder, for the charmer was never as winsome as he…

Thusly, his commandments are fulfilled…

If only for these…

_Thou shalt not choose a woman shame would forbid thee to marry…_

She was a Princess. He was a knight… 

He trembles, falling to his knees. The next is worst…

_Thou shalt not strive to love a woman engage in another affair…_

His memory is clear, he sees it too well. 

She was a Princess. He was a knight…

Rather, she was an _engaged_ Princess, to the Duke of Freid…

He was only a knight…

A knight…

A knight…

Yet the rendezvous they shared was vivid – eyes feasting, lips tasting, fluids flowing. Time and tide wasted upon the shores of reality for nothing was heeded but the beating of twin hearts, fused for all eternity. They knew it wrong. They knew it so wrong. Yet they fell – down, down, down into d*mnation, clinging onto each other, waiting for the inevitable end…

Her end came too soon. 

His own end is drawing near…

He fingers the last line with a bloodstained finger. He sits amidst a pool of ebbing crimson and overflowing saline. It takes a moment to realize he is crying…

He cannot undo the past, for it cannot be undone. Prayers to his god would not return his innocence, would not change his fate. His sins are too deep, his history much complicated by them… 

But tomorrow can be brighter… for he would not taint the future forever…

_May ye forever remain in the service of your people, your country and your god…_

"For the smile of tomorrow…? So be it…"

_In the name of Jeture, we dub thee, Allen Crusade Schezar VIII, a heavenly Knight of Caeli…_

From a distance, an angel weeps…

~*~*~*~

_Aoi Akiko rambles:_

_[italics] (except for the last line, "In the name of Jeture... Knight of Caeli...") adapted from 'Knights : Chivalric Rules', from an assortment of site on the web..._

_Reasons for this piece:  
I haven't a clue, really... Was reading up on medieval life for another fiction when this section stole my attention. And as I read the rules on chivalrous love, I thought of Allen...  
I didn't mean to condemn him. I love Allen to bits... *cowers from tomatoes* Let me explain, ne...?  
Though everything seems alright for Allen at the end of the series, I believe nothing should be taken so superficially. Celena would be unstable, Millerna a tad cold, and if things were explained to Chid, he (Allen) would be rejected. I think. So taking it from Allen's POV, there isn't much to live for except to breathe... Thus his last words, "For the smile of tomorrow...? So be it..."_

_or on the other hand, I just wanted to try my luck at something more-than-angsty..._

_Dedicated to Ibbit..._

_~ Aoi Akiko_


	2. Picture update

No. _Escaflowne _not mine. Allen Schezar not mine. 

...oOo...

_Aoi Akiko has done a piccie for this fictions, yay!! Please view picture at _

_h t t p : w w w . g e o c i t i e s . c o m / a o i a k i k o / e a s e l . h t m_  
(please take out all the spaces in between)

_under the same name (ie, What Price Chivalry?). Feel free to browse through the other piccies too, and drop by anytime...   
(::psst:: especially those in 'Canon'... some have won Aoi Akiko a prize )_

_Review the ficcie too _


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